Matthew McConaughey explains why he once turned down a big action comedy. McConaughey has been in Hollywood for more than three decades, starting out playing David Wooderson in Richard Linklater’s 1993 comedy. Dazed and confused. From there, McConaughey’s early career was defined by a combination of his goofy intonations on words, as well as his status as a romantic lead in films such as The wedding planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Since then, the actor has made a wide variety of films, even winning an Oscar in 2014.
In a clip from Good problem podcast (via The Hollywood Reporter), McConaughey explains why he turned down a big-budget movie. The actor details that he wanted to dedicate some time in his career to restructure things. He became known as “the rom-com guy“, and although it is comfortable there, he didn’t want to be cornered on that track. So, he decided to move to Texas and made an agreement with his wife that he would only take on the roles he wanted. This involved turning down $14.5 million to star in an unnamed action comedy. Check out McConaughey’s quote below:
Look, man, the devil is in the infinite yes, no in the no. No, it’s just as important, if not more important. Especially if you have some level of success and access. The no becomes more important than the yes. Because, I mean, we all look around and see that we’ve leveraged our lives too much with yes and we go, wow, man, I’m getting C-minus and all this shit in my life because I said yes too many things. When I was coming out of romantic comedies. And I was the romantic comedy guy, man, that was my lane, and I liked that lane. This track paid well and was working.
But the track was… I was so strong on that track that anything outside of that track, dramas and other things I wanted to do, was like, no, no, no, no, no, McConaughey. Hollywood said no, no, no, no, you should stay there, stay there. I didn’t want to. So, when I couldn’t do what I wanted, I stopped doing what I was doing. And I moved to a ranch in Texas, went there and made a pact with my wife [Camila Alves McConaughey] and said, ‘I’m not going to go back to work unless I’m offered roles I want to do.’ I think that was probably the most rebellious move in Hollywood for me, because it really sent the signal, he’s not bluffing.
And when you have someone who isn’t bluffing, there’s something attractive about that. I think that’s what made Hollywood think, ‘You know what? He is now a new new idea. He’s a brilliant new idea. When those offers came in, I would salivate, man. And I just bit the bullet and went back and worked as hard as I could and loved it and felt every bit of it.
What this means for McConaughey’s career
McConaughey made a huge pivot
McConaughey has never stated which action film he turned down, nor the year he made it. Moving away from romantic comedies did not, in fact, mean that the actor was no longer interested in making conventional films. For example, he led the sci-fi epic directed by Christopher Nolan Interstellar in 2014. This film was far from small, as it was made with an estimated budget of $165 million. Still, it was an emotional and dramatic role for which McConaughey received critical praise.
It’s also undeniably true that the last 10 to 15 years of an actor’s career have looked immensely different from his early days in film. In 2013, he was in Dallas Buyers Clubwhich is the film that ended up earning him his first and only Oscar. Interstellar came the following year, along with a part in True Detective season 1, which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. His career hasn’t reached the same level of awards acclaim since then, but it still feels very different from his early work.
Our Take on Matthew McConaughey’s Career Decision
This reflects trends for other actors
McConaughey’s huge career pivot represents one of the many exciting changes that have occurred this century, as actors have changed their style. Two other notable examples of this are Robert Pattinson and Nicolas Cage, who have taken advantage of the last few years to break into the indie scene and move away from roles that have ridiculed them. McConaughey might not have been as indie and campy as the likes of Pork or High lifebut he had an exciting career change nonetheless, moving away from romantic comedies.
Source: THR